Salvation is for All

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” –John 3:16

Did you ever stop to consider how many stipulations there are in the above verse? How many rules you need to follow, what kind of person you need to be in order to gain eternal life? Let me help you out: one. You need to believe. You need to believe in who Jesus is and what He did, and that belief naturally presupposes a certain degree of trust. If you believe something, you trust in your belief. If you believe a chair will hold your weight, you sit in it. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He paid the price for your sins, then you must accept that if the Son of God paid the price, the price has been paid. That’s it. Done. If you really believe that, love and thankfulness will follow.

There are a few people in the world who believe themselves to be just fine as they are, fairly decent folk who believe that they don’t need to be forgiven for their sins. These people need to start with a solid look at themselves and who they really are before they can trust in a savior they don’t think they need. Others, however, realize the sinfulness that lurks inside of them, even if they don’t always act on it: that dark shadow of a person they could easily become or, perhaps, that dark shadow they have already become, which they see staring back at them every day in the mirror.

Let’s be honest with ourselves. We don’t measure up to God’s standard. We all have a dark side just waiting to dominate our lives if we will allow it. Perhaps we even have specific, dark secrets we are afraid others will find out about, but there is one person whose rejection we need not fear: God. “If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” -1 John 1:9

Nobody is capable of cleansing themselves, of gaining their own forgiveness. All forgiveness and cleansing comes from God. We may be able to stop a bad habit, but we cannot erase our wickedness from our past, nor ensure we will not repeat it in the future. Only God can do so, and it all starts with belief; belief in what He has already accomplished on our behalf through Jesus. It doesn’t matter where or who you are: sex, nationality, family or history, God will welcome you into eternal life if you only just let go and trust in Him. No hoops to jump through, no tasks to accomplish, just belief in His son who died because He loves you so much.

Lest we become discouraged with our continuing propensity to do evil, consider; the God who welcomed you into his eternal family without any requirement beyond your belief will not then kick you out because you fail to live up to His standard. Indeed, He will slowly begin His work in your life, and we need only be receptive to it: “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” –Philippians 1:6

Remember that it is God’s work, not our own. When we resist his efforts to mend our lives, we require Him to take stronger measures. God’s love for us will not allow us to stay as we are.  When we cooperate with His work in our lives, we make it easier on ourselves. But one way or another, God will see what is dark and vile lifted out of us. So if you shudder at your own failings, small wonder…just be thankful that God has forgiven and is at work cleansing us. As you begin to feel his gentle prodding in this or that area, go along with it; but never worry that He will cast you out. “Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good.” –Deuteronomy 8:5  If He disciples us for our failings, He does so because we are His children. A parent does not discipline a child to destroy it, but to amend it for its own good and benefit. God will never cast out His child.

In short, believe in who He is and what He has done, and believe in His ability to carry out His work within you. Never allow guilt or fear to pull you away from Him; anything that pulls you away from God does not come from Him, no matter how we justify it to ourselves.